Big Cine Expo at Chennai: How theatres can gear up

Less than a month ago, Thalaivan Thalaivi clashed at the Tamil cinema box office with Maareesan.

Later this week, the same two films – one featuring Vijay Sethupathi and Nithya Menen, and the other featuring Fahadh Faasil and Vadivelu – are clashing yet again, at the OTT space. The two films are being releasing on Amazon Prime and Netflix respectively.

For many, who might have missed these films on the big screen, this is an opportunity to catch up with them. But what does a scenario such as this mean to theatre owners? Or, in simpler words, why watch a film on the big screen when you can watch it at home in a few weeks?

This was the hot topic of discussion at Big Cine Expo, held at Chennai Trade Centre on August 19 and 20. “In 2016, when OTT started off, it was not threatening. But post the pandemic, when films started releasing directly on OTT platforms, this whole window of theatrical-OTT release schedule collapsed. For many people, it became a concern whether a certain film will hit the big screen or not,” said Thomas D’Souza, Senior Vice President (Programming), PVR-INOX.

Is the onus on the cinema hall stakeholders or the makers to pull in audiences? It is the latter, felt Rahul Puri of Mukta A2 Cinemas. “Cinema halls can see footfall only if there’s content… content that has intrigue value. A great theatrical trailer, for instance, sucks people in. It’s like a build-up to a phone launch,” said Rahul.

Yusuf Galabhaiwala of GTC Industries, Sandeep Mittal of TheatreWorld, R Panneerselvam of TN Exhibitors Association and Raghavendra T of Big Cine Expo at the inaugural ceremony
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

While the situation in theatres in metropolitan cities might not be rosy, the story is a little different in tier-2 and tier-3 centres. Like in Mysore, for instance, where a nondescript Kannada film sans big names titled Su from So is turning out to be a hit. “We have had 16 days with packed houses,” said Vaishali Hanumanth of DRC Cinemas, “People are coming in as early as 7am to watch the film. A lot of people from the new generation are coming in to watch Kannada films as well. It proves that content is king.”

Billed as a conglomeration for all stakeholders in the cinema business, Big Cine Expo also showcased stalls that dealt with ticketing, acoustics, interior design, popcorn and other aspects related to theatres.